What a waste. Two Afghan women trained as helicopter pilots in the United States have been grounded since October, as that country’s military continues to “review” their applications to fly, reports the Los Angeles Times. The hold on their flying is blamed on a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which denies women the right to any education.

What a waste. Two Afghan women trained as helicopter pilots in the United States have been grounded since October, as that country’s military continues to “review” their applications to fly, reports the Los Angeles Times. The hold on their flying is blamed on a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which denies women the right to any education.

File under: IRONY.

It would be funny if it weren't so dumb.

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The most dangerous man in society is the man who has nothing left to lose. -- Saul Bellow

The total number of MI-17 Helicopters currently in service or coming into service with the ANA is unclear. The US has purchased a number of new MI-17s for the ANA from Russia and from other nations such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There was also some existing MI-17s in the country before the invasion and subsequent formation of the air force. It has also been reported that at least 2 MI-17 have crashed.[33]
The most recent acquisition of MI-17s is for 21 airframes, spare parts and training. These all include western avionics. As of June 2012, eighteen of these have been delivered and the remaining three are to be supplied by the end of June 2012. As part of this contract there is also an option for another twelve MI-17s raising this contract to 33.[34][35] They are modified in the UAE after being delivered to the US Army to fit Afghan Air Force requirements better before being sent to Afghanistan.
At current estimates the ANA will be in possession of 46 MI-17 helicopters by June 2012 with an additional 10 to be delivered by 2016.[34][35]
As of April 13, 2013 the United States is planning the purchase of an additional 30 MI-17v5 Helicopters.[36][37] While it is still unclear how many Mil-17 the ANAF is currently in possession of and how many are currently on order this latest contract could bring total numbers to between 65 - 75 Mil-17 helicopters within a few years.

The next question is where do the aircraft end up with the
Karzai administration or the Taliban and who will the helicopters be used against. Of course the Russians are probably making sure that the aircraft don't last that long and autodestruct.